Automated roll handling system

ABSTRACT

An automated roll handling system includes a cart with an integrated vertical spindle and a plurality of wheels on bottom frame of the cart. A trio of cart locating pads is situated on the bottom frame of the cart, and a cart centering post is situated on the bottom frame of the cart and used in combination with the trio of cart locating pads to locate the spindle in space to a predetermined positioning tolerance that allows for control of five degrees of freedom. A roll transfer system is also provided including a pivot arm, a system frame, a vacuum arm, a plurality of vacuum suction cups affixed to the vacuum arm for holding a sidewall of a stock roll, and a cart locator system on the bottom of the system frame for precise positioning of the cart.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to the field of roll handling, and inparticular to a system for accurately positioning a roll handling cart,and transferring stock rolls of web to and from a cart.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many kinds of roll handling carts, such as those described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,674,040 and 5,934,604, stock rolls are supported on theiroutside convolution of web, which can damage several of the outer webconvolutions of the stock roll. To eliminate the damage to the web,stock rolls are often horizontally supported by a cantilevered supportspindle, which supports a stack of stock rolls by the inner diameter oftheir cores. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,767 and European Patent No. EP 1 211554 A1 illustrate such carts. However, in some cases, because the innerdiameter of the core is not sufficiently large enough, and the weight ofthe stack of stock rolls is too great, a horizontal cantilevered supportis not practical.

In U.S. Patent Application Publication U.S. 2002/0054811, an apparatususes an expansion assembly incorporated within a support mandrel to holdthe inner bore of the stock roll's core. This method can be problematicwhen transferring some configurations of stock rolls in the verticalorientation, because the stock rolls may have been loosely wound, or theweight of the wound web will pull off its core. Also, when loading orunloading a machine process spindle with a stock roll of web, the stockroll core bore needs to be open and accessible. Sometimes the expansionforce against the core bore is too great and damages the core.Therefore, the apparatus described in U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication U.S. 2002/0054811 has limitations, and is not practical foruse with large rolls of motion picture film, for example.

To automatically remove stock rolls from a cart and transfer the stockrolls to an adjacent machine process can require a means to accuratelylocate the stack of stock rolls which reside on the cart, and a means toaccurately position the cart. In many kinds of carts, such as thosedisclosed in European Patent No. EP 1 211 554 A1, the final locatedposition of the cart requires the wheels, which remain in contact withthe floor or a platform surface, to accurately position the elevation ofthe cart. This can be problematic, because the cart's wheels are subjectto wear and can collect dirt. Therefore, there is a need to accuratelylocate a cart without the critical setup or alignment of its wheels.

There is a need for automatic roll handling systems which can“accurately” load or unload stock rolls of web, such as motion picturefilm, to or from a machine which processes, or performs other operationsupon this web. There is also a need to automatically handle asignificant number of stock rolls to greatly reduce the operationallabor requirements such as manually lifting and transferring stockrolls. There is also a need for an automatic roll handling system, whichhandles the stock rolls in a safe manner to minimize the creation ofhandling defects. There is also a need for an automatic roll handlingsystem which can work effectively in a dark room environment, which isrequired for handling light sensitive materials. Finally, there is needfor a simple and low cost system, which can meet these requirements

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of theproblems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect ofthe present invention, an automated roll handling system is provided,comprising a cart with an integrated vertical spindle comprising, and aplurality of wheels on bottom frame of the cart. A trio of cart locatingpads situated on the bottom frame of the cart, and a cart centering postsituated on the bottom frame of the cart and used in combination withthe trio of cart locating pads to locate the spindle in space to apredetermined positioning tolerance that allows for control of fivedegrees of freedom is provided. A roll transfer system, is also providedcomprising a pivot arm, a system frame for supporting the pivot arm, avacuum arm that is capable of sliding within the pivot arm, a pluralityof vacuum suction cups affixed to the vacuum arm for holding a sidewallof a stock roll, and a cart locator system on the bottom of the systemframe for precise positioning of the cart using the combination of thetrio of cart locating pads and the cart centering post.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a means of transferring a stock roll ofweb without contacting or supporting the outer convolutions of web, andthus eliminates the risk of damaging the outer convolutions of web. Thepresent invention also provides a means of stacking stock rolls on theirsidewalls, in a cart, and precisely locating the stack of stock rollsvia their cores' inner diameters to protect and accurately position thestock rolls.

The present invention provides a means to accurately locate the cartwithout the use of its wheels. A simple and accurate system for loadingand unloading stock rolls to and from a cart and onto and off of amachine is also provided.

These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a reviewof the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments andappended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cart.

FIG. 2 is a side cross sectional view of the cart.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom of the cart.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the top of the cart.

FIG. 5 is top perspective view of the roll transfer system.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the pivot arm and vacuum arm assemblage.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the pivot arm and vacuum arm assemblage.

FIG. 8 is a back view of the pivot arm and vacuum arm assemblage.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the cart docked in the roll transfer system,adjacent to a processing machine.

FIG. 10 is another side view of the cart docked in the roll transfersystem adjacent to a machine.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the datum locating features of thecart.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Based on the prevailing needs and inadequate solutions mentioned above,it is desirable in this case to support the stack of rolls on theirsides to prevent damage to the stock rolls outer convolutions, and alsoprovide a means to accurately locate the stack of stock rolls via theircores inside diameters, by use of a vertical spindle integrated into thecart. Also, it is desirable to accurately locate a cart and the stack ofstock rolls it carries independent of the cart's wheels.

Referring to FIG. 1, a stock roll transfer system 1 incorporates the useof a cart 2, which holds a stock roll stack 11. The cart 2 can bemanually positioned by an operator into a docking position of the stockroll transfer system 1. The cart 2 could also be automatically deliveredby any number of means that are not specifically illustrated, andpositioned into a docking position of the stock roll transfer system 1.

Cart

The cart 2, illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, includes a cart frame 5,supported by caster wheels 6. There is a raised section of the cartframe 5 that supports a handle 29, for manually pushing and positioningthe cart. The cart spindle 7 supported on top of the frame 5 is in thevertical orientation, and the three cart locating pads 8A-8C and thebottom cart centering post 12 are fixed to the bottom of the cart frame5. The cart spindle 7 is very accurately located perpendicular to thecart reference plane 30, which is defined by the three cart locatingpads 8A-8C (shown in FIG. 3), which are within 0.005 inches, forexample. The cart spindle 7 is approximately the length of the height ofthe stock roll stack 11, as seen in the side cross sectional view inFIG. 2, so it can maintain positional control of each stock roll 9 onthe cart 2. The cart centering post 12 can be constructed at the bottomend of the cart spindle 7, or the cart centering post 7 can be anothercomponent, which is in accurate axial alignment to the cart spindle 7.The cart spindle 7 prevents movement of the stock roll stack 11 duringtransit. Also, the cart spindle 7 provides a locator for loading thestock roll cart 2 manually or automatically.

Stock Roll Transfer System

The stock roll transfer system 1, illustrated in FIGS. 5-10, is made ofa handling system frame 13, which pivotally supports a pivot arm 20. Arotary actuator 19 drives the pivot arm 20 in clockwise (CW) andcounter-clockwise (CCW) directions. The rotary actuator can be acommercially available pneumatic or hydraulic device, or it can beconstructed from an electric rotary drive. The pivot arm 20 rotation islimited by the pivot arm horizontal stop 24 and pivot arm vertical stop25, which are fixed to the handling system frame 13. These stopsaccurately locate the rotational end positions of the pivot arm 20 atthe load and unload positions.

Inside the tube structure of pivot arm 20, seen in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8(which is removed from the stock roll transfer system 1 for clarity), avacuum arm 21 is mounted with a slide 22, which has its linear motionalong the direction of the length of the pivot arm 20. Also, inside thistube structure is a rodless cylinder 23, which is also commerciallyavailable, which actuates the vacuum arm 21 its extended length. Vacuumarm 21 is made of a long tube structure, which has the slide 22 railsection attached inside its inner wall. Vacuum arm 21 has a head endthat supports a plurality of vacuum suction cups 26 (four areillustrated for exemplary purposes). When the vacuum arm 21 is extendedto move the core 10 of web stock roll 9, over the machine spindle 4, theextended position is controlled by stop cylinder 28. When stop cylinder28 is extended, it stops the motion of the rodless cylinder 23 to anintermediate position. It is preferable to stop the vacuum arm 21 in anintermediate position, verses stopping this motion with the stock roll 9or its core 10 against a stop feature, which may cause damage to thestock roll 9.

Vacuum suction cups 26 are designed to support a single stock roll ofweb by holding the web's sidewall with sufficient vacuum pressure. Thevacuum arm's 21 tube inner opening is designed to clear the diameter ofthe cart spindle 7 when acquiring a stock roll 9.

The lower section of the stock roll transfer system 1, as shown in FIG.5, accurately locates the cart and the stock roll stack. There arecaster slots 18 in the bottom support plate 27, which provide clearancefor the cart caster wheels 6 shown in FIG. 9. The caster slots 18 alsolimit the rotational movement of the cart, by restricting the cartwheels' 6 motion, which ensures that the cart's cart locating pads 8A-8Cremain in alignment with the three cart lifting devices 14A, 14B, 14C.The cart locator 15 positions the cart centering post 12. The cartlocator latch 16, which is pivotally mounted to the cart locator 15,pushes the cart centering post 12 accurately into the cart locator 15,accurately controlling two degrees of freedom. The cart locator latch 16is actuated by a locator latch cylinder 17, which is pivotally mountedto both the cart latch 16 and the support plate 27. The three cartlifting devices 14A, 14B and 14C, slightly lift the cart wheels 6 offthe floor to an accurate locating plane defined by the extended positionof the three cart lifting devices, and thereby accurately controllingthree additional degrees of freedom. The five degrees of freedom of thecart 2, accurately positioned by the stock roll transfer system 1, areillustrated with arrows and labeled X, Y and Z in FIG. 11. The cartlifting devices 14A, 14B and 14C can be constructed from commerciallyavailable pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, or from electrically drivenlinear actuators. Once the cart 2 is accurately positioned, loading orunloading of the cart 2 by the stock roll transfer system 1 can beperformed.

Controls

The stock roll transfer system 1 uses a vacuum supply, (not shown), forthe evacuation of air to the vacuum suction cups 26, which could besupplied from a factory vacuum, a vacuum pump, a compressed air vacuumgenerator, or other means. The rodless cylinder 23 can be any pneumaticor hydraulic device, which is commercially available, or it could beconfigured as linear electrical drive. The control for these devices canbe performed by an independent controller or by the one used by theadjacent machine 3.

Basic Control Functions:

Head vacuum on/off

Pivot arm rotation CW/CCW

Vacuum arm extension in/out

Stop cylinder in/out

Cart latch closed/open

Cart lifting devices up/down

The exemplary steps of operation for loading stock rolls 9 onto themachine 3 are as follows:

(1) The cart 2 is manually pushed into the stock roll transfer system 1docking location, as initially illustrated in FIG. 1. The cart centerpost 12, seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, stops against the cart locator 15, seenin FIG. 5. The docking position of the cart 2 in the stock roll transfersystem 1 can be seen in FIG. 9.

(2) The locator latch cylinder 17 is energized and subsequently actuatesthe cart locator latch 16 against the cart center post 12 accurately andsecurely against the locator 15. This actuation accurately locates the Xand Y positions of the cart 2, as depicted in FIG. 11.

(3) The three cart lifting devices 14 A-C are actuated to engage withthe three cart locating pads 8 A-8C, and lift the cart 2 slightly offthe floor, so the cart wheels 6 no longer have positional control of thecart 2. Now the cart 2 has been accurately positioned in preparation forthe stock roll unload steps, seen in FIG. 9. The actuation of threelifting devices 14 A-C accurately locates the three Z positions of thethree associated cart lifting pads 8 A-C, as depicted in FIG. 11.

(4) The vacuum arm 21, which is initially in its vertical position andfully retracted, also shown in FIG. 9, is actuated downwards by acontrolled force of the rodless cylinder 23. The vacuum suction cups 26,attached to the vacuum arm 21, come in contact with the top-most stockroll 9 of the stock roll stack 11 and stops the motion. Immediately thevacuum suction cups 26, which are under vacuum pressure hold thesidewall of the top-most stock roll 9, with more than sufficient forceto lift the weight of the top-most stock roll 9.

(5) The vacuum arm 21 is now fully retracted by the actuation of therodless cylinder 23, as seen in FIG. 9.

(6) The rotary actuator 19 is actuated to rotate the pivot arm 20 in thehorizontal position, where it comes to rest against pivot arm horizontalstop 24, as seen in FIG. 10.

(7) The stop cylinder 28 is actuated to limit the travel of the rodlesscylinder 23 forward stroke.

(8) The vacuum arm 21 is extended outward via the actuation of therodless cylinder 23, until it is stopped by the stop cylinder 28. Thismotion delivers the stock roll 9 accurately over the machine spindle 4,which is a collapse state, as seen in FIG. 10.

(9) The machine spindle 4 is activated to grasp the inner diameter ofcore 10.

(10) The vacuum cups 26 vacuum is de-energized to release hold of thestock roll 9.

(11) The vacuum arm 21 is fully retracted via the actuation of therodless cylinder 23.

(12) The pivot arm 20 is rotated via the rotary actuator 19, until thepivot arm 20 comes to rest against pivot arm vertical stop 25, seen inFIG. 1.

(13) The vacuum suction cups 26 vacuum pressure is energized when thenext automatic command is given to acquire and load another stock roll 9onto the machine spindle 4.

Although the steps to unload a stock roll 9 from a machine are notdescribed, it is obvious to those ordinarily skilled in the art thatreversing the process steps provides this capability.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations andmodifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

Parts List

-   1 Roll transfer system-   2 Cart-   3 Machine-   4 Machine spindle-   5 Cart frame-   6 Cart wheels-   7 Cart spindle-   8A-8C Cart locating pads-   9 Stock roll-   10 Core-   11 Stock roll stack-   12 Cart centering post-   13 Handling system frame-   14A-C Cart lifting devices-   15 Cart locator-   16 Cart locator latch-   17 Locator latch cylinder-   18 Caster slots-   19 Rotary actuator-   20 Pivot arm-   21 Vacuum arm-   22 Slide-   23 Rodless cylinder-   24 Pivot arm horizontal stop-   25 Pivot arm vertical stop-   26 Vacuum suction cups-   27 Bottom support plate-   28 Stop cylinder-   29 Handle-   30 Cart reference plane

1. An automated roll handling system, comprising: a) a cart with anintegrated vertical spindle comprising: a1) a plurality of wheels onbottom frame of the cart; a2) a trio of cart locating pads situated onthe bottom frame of the cart; a3) a cart centering post situated on thebottom frame of the cart and used in combination with the trio of cartlocating pads to locate the spindle in space to a predeterminedpositioning tolerance that allows for control of five degrees offreedom; and b) a roll transfer system, comprising: b1) a pivot arm; b2)a system frame for supporting the pivot arm; b3) a vacuum arm that iscapable of sliding within the pivot arm; b4) a plurality of vacuumsuction cups affixed to the vacuum arm for holding a sidewall of a stockroll; and b5) a cart locator system on bottom of the system frame forprecise positioning of the cart using the combination of the trio ofcart locating pads and the cart centering post.
 2. The automated rollhandling system claimed in claim 1, wherein the cart locating systemfurther comprises: i) a cart locator that engages with the cartcentering post; ii) a cart locator latch that engages with the cartcentering post; and iii) a trio of cart lifting devices that lift thecart to position the spindle within plus or minus 0.005 inches andallowing for control of five degrees of freedom.
 3. A method of loadinga stock roll with an automated roll handling system, comprising thesteps of: a) locating a cart centering post against a cart locator; b)actuating a cart locator latch to precisely position the cart centeringpost against the cart locator; c) actuating cart lifting devices toaccurately position a spindle axis within a predetermined tolerancewhile allowing for control of five degrees of freedom; d) actuating avacuum arm to acquire a top-most stock roll; e) actuating the vacuum armto a fully retracted position; f) actuating a rotary actuator to rotatea pivot arm in a horizontal position for alignment with a receivingspindle; g) actuating a stop cylinder to limit vacuum arm's stroke; h)actuating the vacuum arm out against the stop cylinder to load the stockroll over the receiving spindle; i) grasping of the stock roll core bythe receiving spindle; j) de-energizing vacuum pressure on the vacuumarm; k) retracting the vacuum arm until its fully retracted position;and l) rotating the pivot arm to its initial position.